Voice Over: Memoir of an Interpreter

by Nikita Kiriloff, Jean Chrétien (Foreword)

Nikita Kiriloff's career as a Russian interpreter reads like a history of late twentieth-century world politics. He lent his voice and ears to many world leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chr�tien and Bill Clinton. From his beginnings as a freelance interpreter in Europe, to his retirement as the top Russian interpreter for the Prime Minister of Canada, Kiriloff witnessed the dynamics of international affairs firsthand. He recalls the remarkably open diplomacy between Canada and the USSR during the 1970s and the turbulent events of the 1980s and early 1990s that ultimately led to the end of the Soviet Union. He recounts Russia's stabilization and controversial return to the international stage. His narrative is interspersed throughout with personal reflections on the remarkable people and events that shaped late twentieth-century history.

Voice Over is a window into the world of professional interpretation and testimony to its central role in world politics.

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2011